Tee Time: Wyndham a long-standing tradition

Published: Sunday, August 17, 2014 at 11:38 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, August 17, 2014 at 11:38 a.m.

As strange as it may seem, the 2013-14 PGA Tour regular season is concluding this weekend in Greensboro, at the 75th Wyndham Championship.

In recent years, the Wyndham Championship has been a tournament where PGA Tour players come to rack up as many FedExCup points as possible.

With the goal to both earn their card for the next season and become eligible to compete in the four-event FedExCup Playoffs.

But the Wyndham Championship is one of the PGA Tour's longest running events and has a rich history, with champions including the likes of Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player.

In 1937, an idea was born in the minds of the newly-founded, Greensboro Jaycees organization that was looking for programs that would help the City of Greensboro.

Later that year, a group of business leaders decided to host a golf tournament and pledged the $5,000 needed to acquire a date on the fledgling PGA Tour in 1938. The Donald Ross-designed, Sedgefield Country Club played host to the premier event, as well as many other events over the next four decades, before returning in 2008.

In the inaugural event, Slammin' Sammy Snead beat Johnny Revolta by five-shots to record the first of eight victories in Greensboro, banking $1,200 for his efforts.

Just two years later, “welter-weight” Ben Hogan followed up a win at the prestigious North-South Open at Pinehurst, with a nine-shot victory and bested Snead's 11-under-par by one-shot to set a new tournament record. Although the Wyndham Championship has gone by many several names over the history of the tournament, an April 18, 1955 story in the Times-News described the event as “Snead's Tournament” after grabbing his fifth victory.

Another chapter in the legend of the tournament started in the early-1970's, when a local outdoors editor started the only fishing tournament on the PGA Tour, and it lasted for more than 20 years.

In 1961 tournament officials, urged on by many of their elders, reached across golf's racial divide and issued a personal invitation to Charlie Sifford, the leading African-American golfer of his day, to participate in the event.

The Charlotte native accepted the invitation and became the first African-American to play in a PGA Tour event in the South. Six months later, the Tour removed the Caucasians-only clause from its by-laws.

In 2007, the Sedgefield Country Club was restored to its original Ross design and was modernized for today's PGA Tour players.

The $3 million restoration process, led by Donald Ross course expert and Greensboro-resident Kris Spence, took 10 months to complete and resulted in a stellar course covering some 7,117 yards and playing to a par-70. This restoration of the nearly 90-year-old golf course, has positioned the Sedgefield Country Club as the only Ross-designed track that the PGA Tour regularly plays every year.

Although the Wyndham Championship is still known to many as the Greater Greensboro Open, the tournament is steep in history, as no other tournament in PGA Tour history can claim that its first three champions were the legendary Snead, Hogan and Byron Nelson.

Although a new champion will receive a trophy this weekend, the “Wall of Champions” overlooking the ninth green at Sedgefield will remind him of the rich history of this event.

Fairways and greens my friend.

Breaking golf's racial lines

Few professional golfers would describe a round of 72 as “one of the greatest rounds” of their lives.

But even fewer have been on the other end of a telephone call in Greensboro, containing a torrent of curses and racial epithets, after shooting a 68 to grab a first-round lead in their first PGA Tour event.

But there is only one Charles “Charlie” Sifford.

While receiving the abusive, late-night telephone call, a shaken Sifford heard the same voice while preparing to tee off in his second round.

Not fully able to shake the effects of the call, Sifford managed to shoot “one of the greatest rounds” of his life.

After learning to play the game as a caddie in Charlotte at the age of 17, Sifford was playing pro on the United Golf Association Tour, where he notched five consecutive National Negro Open titles.

At the past-his-prime age of 39, Sifford was invited by the Greater Greensboro Open organizers who were trying to integrate local public courses.

At the urging of his now deceased wife, Rose, Sifford accepted the invitation and eventually finished fourth.

The race-related problems did not end in Greensboro.

They continued for several years, as Sifford was not allowed to play at some tour stops and endured many racial-taunts.

Many years later, after winning two PGA Tour events and the 1975 Senior PGA Championship, Sifford was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1985 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

Today, Charlotte's old Revolution Park Golf Course is named after Sifford, and is open to players of any skin color.

<p>As strange as it may seem, the 2013-14 PGA Tour regular season is concluding this weekend in Greensboro, at the 75th Wyndham Championship.</p><p>In recent years, the Wyndham Championship has been a tournament where PGA Tour players come to rack up as many FedExCup points as possible.</p><p>With the goal to both earn their card for the next season and become eligible to compete in the four-event FedExCup Playoffs.</p><p>But the Wyndham Championship is one of the PGA Tour's longest running events and has a rich history, with champions including the likes of Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player.</p><p>In 1937, an idea was born in the minds of the newly-founded, Greensboro Jaycees organization that was looking for programs that would help the City of Greensboro.</p><p>Later that year, a group of business leaders decided to host a golf tournament and pledged the $5,000 needed to acquire a date on the fledgling PGA Tour in 1938. The Donald Ross-designed, Sedgefield Country Club played host to the premier event, as well as many other events over the next four decades, before returning in 2008.</p><p>In the inaugural event, Slammin' Sammy Snead beat Johnny Revolta by five-shots to record the first of eight victories in Greensboro, banking $1,200 for his efforts.</p><p>Just two years later, “welter-weight” Ben Hogan followed up a win at the prestigious North-South Open at Pinehurst, with a nine-shot victory and bested Snead's 11-under-par by one-shot to set a new tournament record. Although the Wyndham Championship has gone by many several names over the history of the tournament, an April 18, 1955 story in the Times-News described the event as “Snead's Tournament” after grabbing his fifth victory.</p><p>Another chapter in the legend of the tournament started in the early-1970's, when a local outdoors editor started the only fishing tournament on the PGA Tour, and it lasted for more than 20 years.</p><p>In 1961 tournament officials, urged on by many of their elders, reached across golf's racial divide and issued a personal invitation to Charlie Sifford, the leading African-American golfer of his day, to participate in the event.</p><p>The Charlotte native accepted the invitation and became the first African-American to play in a PGA Tour event in the South. Six months later, the Tour removed the Caucasians-only clause from its by-laws.</p><p>In 2007, the Sedgefield Country Club was restored to its original Ross design and was modernized for today's PGA Tour players.</p><p>The $3 million restoration process, led by Donald Ross course expert and Greensboro-resident Kris Spence, took 10 months to complete and resulted in a stellar course covering some 7,117 yards and playing to a par-70. This restoration of the nearly 90-year-old golf course, has positioned the Sedgefield Country Club as the only Ross-designed track that the PGA Tour regularly plays every year.</p><p>Although the Wyndham Championship is still known to many as the Greater Greensboro Open, the tournament is steep in history, as no other tournament in PGA Tour history can claim that its first three champions were the legendary Snead, Hogan and Byron Nelson.</p><p>Although a new champion will receive a trophy this weekend, the “Wall of Champions” overlooking the ninth green at Sedgefield will remind him of the rich history of this event.</p><p>Fairways and greens my friend.</p><h3>Breaking golf's racial lines</h3>
<p>Few professional golfers would describe a round of 72 as “one of the greatest rounds” of their lives.</p><p>But even fewer have been on the other end of a telephone call in Greensboro, containing a torrent of curses and racial epithets, after shooting a 68 to grab a first-round lead in their first PGA Tour event.</p><p>But there is only one Charles “Charlie” Sifford.</p><p>While receiving the abusive, late-night telephone call, a shaken Sifford heard the same voice while preparing to tee off in his second round.</p><p>Not fully able to shake the effects of the call, Sifford managed to shoot “one of the greatest rounds” of his life.</p><p>After learning to play the game as a caddie in Charlotte at the age of 17, Sifford was playing pro on the United Golf Association Tour, where he notched five consecutive National Negro Open titles.</p><p>At the past-his-prime age of 39, Sifford was invited by the Greater Greensboro Open organizers who were trying to integrate local public courses.</p><p>At the urging of his now deceased wife, Rose, Sifford accepted the invitation and eventually finished fourth.</p><p>The race-related problems did not end in Greensboro.</p><p>They continued for several years, as Sifford was not allowed to play at some tour stops and endured many racial-taunts.</p><p>Many years later, after winning two PGA Tour events and the 1975 Senior PGA Championship, Sifford was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1985 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.</p><p>Today, Charlotte's old Revolution Park Golf Course is named after Sifford, and is open to players of any skin color.</p><p>— John Domansky</p>